


Of a Marigold

by social_reject



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-04-01 00:15:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13986348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/social_reject/pseuds/social_reject
Summary: A thousand flowers bloomed and entangled on white wood. Countless stems fallen, all had become one with the notches on the floor. Orange sunrise gazed in on the stranger from between the trees. Low shadows danced across the mans alabaster skin, highlights dawned down upon his sitting form. He sat with petals on his knees, in his curly blond hair, spilling out of the pocket on his sheer shirt.





	Of a Marigold

**Author's Note:**

> The past five and a half months have been heart breaking to say the least. And while times are still hard and sad I’m trying to get back to some form of normal. For the first time in a long time I had a dream about flowers and not something depressing or terrifying. I woke up at ease and inspired. To anyone out there going through hard times know you’re not alone.

Calum walked the same path to work as every other morning of the past week. Lone streets laid ahead, his early morning hours leaving the world barren aside for shadows dancing around him and birds chirping in midair. His gaze peeled up from his feet and the sidewalk below to the corner of a building as he rounded past it. He searched on past the minimal light of a still rising sun and as thickets of trees became less dense he spotted what made his mornings worthwhile.

A thousand flowers bloomed and entangled on white wood. Countless stems fallen, all had become one with the notches on the floor. Orange sunrise gazed in on the stranger from between the trees. Low shadows danced across the mans alabaster skin, highlights dawned down upon his sitting form. He sat with petals on his knees, in his curly blond hair, spilling out of the pocket on his sheer shirt. Calum watched on from the other side of the street, briefcase in hand and hooded eyes wishing for the kind of bliss he saw. The man threw his head back into the warmth of new day, embracing another new beginning.

The day was young and Calum somehow held onto hope, heart yearning for something more than his lackluster routine. He did not have much time left for his commute to work but he stood in his spot peering into the gazebo across the street anyway. He knew what was to come and he did not want to miss it. And as if on cue, as every other morning for the past week had started, the sun rose higher like flames licking up into the air and the stranger pulled his beaten and old acoustic guitar from its case. Calum’s heart lightened at the first strum of the guitar, unable to hold back his smile as he loosened his tie slightly and took a small step forward. One foot off the curb.

For six days he had promised himself he would cross the lonesome street where cars did not drive by at such early hours. He promised himself he would get a better look at the unknown man who sat with flowers in his hair and heaven in his voice. He promised himself. But he was never one to keep his word. And so six times over he found himself walking away with the excuse of time and running late before ever truly catching more than shadowed glances and hearing the lingering hum of a stranger.

This morning would be no different.

Calum took two steps back up onto the curb opposite the park and the flowers; wisteria trees stirring in the slight breeze that picked up, as if the ends were reaching out to Calum and calling him to them and the man. Calum tightened his tie back into position and strode forward, away from the breeze. A soft voice growing distant as he walked.

—-

That evening changed.

As Calum approached the gazebo, eyes mostly on the wooden structure but roaming around himself, the color red caught his eye. On the other side of the garden where he stood with dress shoes on cement, a perfectly shaped marigold flower laid unbothered. Figuring it had been the breeze that had somehow managed to rehome the petals, Calum bent down to pick it up. Fingers held delicately onto the petals as he chanced his way across the now busy street. This was not the first time Calum had admired the beauty of the lustrous gazebo but it was the first time he had stepped foot into it.

Night had come but the moon did not replace the sun. The stars shone brighter that night and street lights lit a lurid path to and from the gazebo. The never ending variety of flowers spanned on, on the railings, hanging down from the wooden slats of the ceiling, growing up from the grass outside that peeked its way through the support beams. Orange and red and purple and pink, green stems and grass all surrounded Calum and for the first time in a week he made himself a promise he was content to keep.

He penned out one line on a rectangular business card, placed it and the flower on the rail of the gazebo and weighed them down with a smooth stone.

Calum could not wait for the next day.

—-

Morning broke in the sky and though Calum was not walking to work he strode forward with purpose. The note he had left the previous night was left untouched and still weighed down by the rock, flower beginning to wilt, a few petals missing. He sighed. He figured it would be a futile attempt, and yet he had gotten his hopes up. Gently he picked up the card and pocketed it. He ran his hands over the uneven wood on the rail, splintered hopes in ruin. The gazebos beauty was lost on him without the beautiful and alluring stranger playing soft tunes highlighted by morning glows. Flowers just looked like flowers and the sun was only there for warmth.

—-

Across the street Calum entered a small dinner, worn leather booths and the smell of fresh coffee inviting. The menu was tattered and the windows were streaked and blurred out the view of the park across the way. Calum settled into his seat as a waitress poured him a cup of coffee and he thanked her kindly. Doubts had begun to build up in Calum’s mind and a lick of embarrassment heated his cheeks. He felt a fool for going out on a limb. And for a stranger no less.

Eyes downtrodden and hands picking at the napkin holding his silverware together Calum scarcely heard the bell on the front entrance ding. His attention wasn’t averted until he was embraced by a shadowed form. Hesitantly he looked up. Soft blue eyes and curly blond hair stood staggeringly tall above him. The sun became brilliant to Calum once again.

A perfectly shaped marigold flower spilled out of the pocket of his shirt.

The stranger grinned and offered a hand.

“I’m Luke.” 

**Author's Note:**

> <3


End file.
